Appearance & Taste

The Guava fruit is a round to pear-shaped fruit which varies between 3cm-12cm in diameter. It has a thin delicate skin which is smooth in texture and ranges from pale green colour to yellow at maturity.

The inside of the Guava is dependent on the type of Guava. Pink guavas tend to be pink to red in colour, while white guavas tend to have a creamy white flesh. Both varieties contain numerous seeds which are small and edible, but the seediness depends on the variety again.

Looking at the smell of the Guava, it is a sweet and aromatic, while in taste, it tastes like a juicy strawberry and pear fused together.

Where It Comes From

The Guava fruit is grown in many countries which include the likes of South Africa, Uruguay, Egypt, Hawaii, America and India to name a few.

Health Benefits

If you thought oranges and other citrus fruits were kings of vitamin C, you were mistaken. One guava contains 165 milligrams (mg) of vitamin C, while one orange contains a mere 69mg. This delicious fruit is not only rich in Vitamin C, but is also a good source of beta carotene, lycopene (lycopene is being studied for its ability to fight heart disease and some cancers), potassium and soluble fibre.

Uses

Apart from eating fresh:

• The pulp of the guava is converted into juices, nectars and drinks
• Recipes are abundant for using guava fruit in pies, cakes, puddings, sauces, butter, sherbet, marmalade, jam, some dairy products (cheese and ice cream), chutney, relish, catsup, bakery items, and other products
• The larger guavas, with thick flesh, are utilized as desserts or salad fruits
  

Fruit Facts

• The guava plant grows symmetrically in a dome-shape with a broad, spreading, low-branching canopy and a shallow-rooted small tree of 3 to 10 m in height
• Guavas develop the best eating quality when they mature during a dry period like winter in India.
• The Aztecs called the Guava fruit, xalxocotl, meaning 'sand plum' due to the large quantity of small edible pips within the fruit.
• The guava has been cultivated and distributed by man, birds, and other 4-footed animals for so long, that its place of origin is unsure.

How to prepare to eat

1. To eat raw guava it needs to be very ripe. To test this, squeeze the fruit gently to see if it is gives under the pressure of your fingers. If it does it’s ready to eat.
2. You can either eat the fruit as whole OR cut in half and scoop out the pulp with a spoon into a bowl.
3. Now you can eat this pulp with the seeds or, if you wish, filter out the seeds with a sieve.